Education
5 musical artists whose careers became the curriculum
As more universities mix music and academics, we have rounded up today’s hottest artists whose careers have was majors.
From Grammy Awards to world tours, clothing lines, sporting endeavors and more, music artists have long expanded their brand beyond just music. Each latest profession step attracts praise and criticism, making their durability on the charts and in the business under scrutiny, and college professors take notes.
Over the past few years, increasingly universities across the country have been taking a more in-depth take a look at a few of today’s great musical artists, with professors dissecting the lyrics and messages behind the songs in an effort to bridge academia and popular culture to be able to educate the next generation.
From Beyoncé to Jay-Z, Nas and more, we have gathered a few of today’s hottest musical geniuses whose creativity and unparalleled talent have earned them a spot in the college classroom.
Beyoncé
Earlier this 12 months, Rutgers University announced that it intended to bring the star’s work and profession to the classroom in a course titled “The Politicization of Beyoncé.”
“This is not a course about Beyoncé’s political involvement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” Kevin Allred, the class’s teacher, said, in keeping with .com.
The course will compare the singer’s musical portfolio with necessary works of the Black feminist movement, including the writings of Alice Walker and Sojourner Truth.
“It’s important to move students away from being mere consumers of media towards thinking more critically about what they encounter on a regular basis,” Allred said.
Jay Z
In 2011, Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson introduced his class to Jay-Z’s life and profession in a course titled “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: Jay-Z.”
The course explored Jay-Z’s profession and linked it to lessons on African American culture and business. Students had a mid-semester exam, a final exam and required readings, including a rapper’s book.
“I think he is an icon of American excellence,” Dyson says
Us
Nas may not have graduated from highschool, but the message of his music actually has content worthy of classroom study.
Last 12 months, Harvard University introduced the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship, which can help fund guest scholar research and academic programs related to hip-hop.
The rapper, who always pushes boundaries in his music, claims that music is an important source of education for our youth.
“Hip-hop is as important as computer science,” says the rapper “The world is changing. If you want to understand the youth, listen to music. It’s happening right under your nose.”
Jay-Z and Kanye West
In addition to studying Jay-Z’s profession at Georgetown University, University of Missouri students can now study his music and profession alongside the profession of his “Watch the Throne” partner, Kanye West.
Professor Andrzej Hoberek he first taught the course in fall 2013, and when the class quickly filled, he decided to resume the course for the fall 2014 semester.
According to Course description, the English course “looks at the career and work of Jay-Z and Kanye West from three perspectives: (1) What is their place in the history of hip-hop music and how are they changing it?” (2) How is what they do just like and different from what poets do? (3) How does their rise to corporate fame and power change what we understand as the American Dream?
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar’s debut album, “Good Kid, MAAD City,” silenced critics who questioned the talent of the young Compton native. Now, thanks to varsity courses inspired by the album, it’s secure to say that Lamar’s work has earned him a spot in hip-hop history books.
Thanks to instructor Adam Diehl, students at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Georgia can now take a more in-depth take a look at Lamar’s musical portfolio, featuring the rapper’s debut album, James Joyce, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks and the 1991 film “Boyz in the Hood” as basic materials for classes.
“I chose to focus the class on Good Kid because I believe Kendrick Lamar is the James Joyce of hip-hop – that is, in terms of the complexity of his storytelling, his command of the canon, and his constant focus on the city in which he lives. upbringing – Compton,” Diehl says HipHopDX.